Individuals, small businesses and major corporations the (“Shipper(s)”) ship billions of parcels every year (small office/home office shippers are referred to as “SOHO” Shippers). Each parcel, also sometimes referred to herein as a package, is shipped by a Shipper using at least one parcel carrier (the “carrier(s)”, or “Carrier(s)”).
Each parcel is characterized by a set of “Parcel Specifications.” Parcel specifications include but are not limited to such factors as: parcel dimensions, parcel weight, parcel value, parcel value and the like.
Each Shipper is faced with certain shipping requirements and limitations (“Shipping Requirements”), such as the location from which the parcel is to be shipped, time frame within which the particular parcel must arrive at its destination, the ability of the shipper to drop off the parcel, budgetary constraints with regard to the cost of shipping, insurance against loss, delivery notification, loss protection, and the like.
Each Carrier has its own unique rating schedule, and delivery and pickup rules and schedules for each of a multitude of different services. In some cases, a particular Carrier's rules may be available in a standalone Carrier-provided paper-based or computer system. Many Shippers attempt to work with each of the standalone, individual paper-based and computer Carrier-provided systems (“standalone Carrier system environment”) in order to ship a parcel.
A Shipper that uses standalone Carrier systems must sort through the various services offered by each carrier and apply each Carrier's rules to determine whether one or more carriers offer a service with which to deliver a particular parcel according to the Shipper's requirements. If the Shipper determines that more than one carrier offers a service with which to deliver a particular parcel according to the Shipper's requirements, then the particular Shipper might additionally be concerned with selecting a carrier and service that provide shipping services at the optimal price.
One of the problems in dealing with standalone Carrier systems is that a Shipper sometimes has a single billing option preference with which to pay for shipping services; whereas each Carrier has different rules for accepting different billing options. Further, even if a particular Carrier accepts a particular billing method, the Carrier may charge more for certain billing options, for example, for a certain type of credit card. Therefore, the Shipper must determine each Carrier's billing option rules and apply the rules to the Shipper's preferred billing option. Further, the Shipper must determine if, even if the billing option is acceptable to each Carrier, whether and to what extent, each Carrier charges more or less for the particular billing method. Accordingly, some way is needed so that a Shipper can accurately and easily determine whether each Carrier supports shipping using the Shipper's preferred billing method and the impact, if any, on pricing for using the particular billing method selected by the Shipper.